When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced the word 'mobile' similar to 'docile'. But recently I keep hearing the CNN TV announcer pronouncing it similar to 'noble' Is the latter American pronounciation? It does not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
John
John
John C put finger to keyboard in this fashion:
You want to make English pronunciation conform to the spelling? Right (pronounced ryte).
"mo-ble" is a reasonably common US pronunciation for "mobile", in the same way that "missle" is for "missile".
David
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When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced the word 'mobile' similar to 'docile'. But recently I keep ... to 'noble' Is the latter American pronounciation? It does not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
You want to make English pronunciation conform to the spelling? Right (pronounced ryte).
"mo-ble" is a reasonably common US pronunciation for "mobile", in the same way that "missle" is for "missile".
David
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replace usenet with the
When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced the word 'mobile' similar to 'docile'. But recently I keep ... to 'noble' Is the latter American pronounciation? It does not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
You don't, however, explain how you pronounce "docile" which comes in different pondial flavo(u)rs. As for "agreeing with how the word is spelled (spelt)", what do you make of the city in Alabama?
John "qual piuma al vento" Dean
Oxford
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John C wrote on 23 Apr 2005:
There are at least three pronunciations for "mobile": mo-beel (rhymes with "heel"), mo-bile (rhymes with "file"), and mo-b@l (rhymes with the first syllable of "hull").
Spelling pronunciations are usually signs of ignorance.
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.
"You've got to get over this idea that there's a rule for everything." Professor John Lawler, U. Michigan
When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced the word 'mobile' similar to 'docile'. But recently I keep ... similar to 'noble' Is the latter American pronounciation? It does not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
There are at least three pronunciations for "mobile": mo-beel (rhymes with "heel"), mo-bile (rhymes with "file"), and mo-b@l (rhymes with the first syllable of "hull").
Spelling pronunciations are usually signs of ignorance.
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.
"You've got to get over this idea that there's a rule for everything." Professor John Lawler, U. Michigan
When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced the word 'mobile' similar to 'docile'. But recently I keep ... to 'noble' Is the latter American pronounciation? It does not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
It's not at all unusual, of course, for the pronunciation of an English word to not agree with the way it's spelled.
I find it interesting to compare the pronunciations of "mobile" and "automobile" in English English and American.
English English has
"mow bile" (rhymes with "while")
"auto mow beel"
American has
"mow ble" (rhymes with "noble")
"auto mow beel"
It would seem risible to say "auto moble" in American, and I suppose the pronunciation "auto mo bile" (rhymes with "while") would have a similar effect in English English.
Let's not forget a town in Alabama called "mow beel", with primary stress sometimes on the first syllable and sometimes on the second.
CyberCypher put finger to keyboard in this fashion:
How is the second syllable of "hull" pronounced?
David
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John C wrote on 23 Apr 2005:
When talking about the 'mobile phone', I have always pronounced ... not agree with how the word is spelled, does it?
There are at least three pronunciations for "mobile": mo-beel (rhymes with "heel"), mo-bile (rhymes with "file"), and mo-b@l (rhymes with the first syllable of "hull").
How is the second syllable of "hull" pronounced?
David
==
replace usenet with the
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"mo-ble" is a reasonably common US pronunciation for "mobile", in the same way that "missle" is for "missile".
And "percentle" is for "percentile"?
It would seem risible to say "auto moble" in American, and I suppose the pronunciation "auto mo bile" (rhymes with "while") would have a similar effect in English English.
Probably not quite as risible in BrE as AmE. Here it's essentially an archaic or foreign word: people don't refer to cars as "automobile"s or "auto"s, though those words can be found in the names of organisations and in some phrases such as "automobile engineering".
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
It would seem risible to say "auto moble" in American, ... with "while") would have a similar effect in English English.
Probably not quite as risible in BrE as AmE. Here it's essentially an archaic or foreign word: people don't refer to cars as "automobile"s or "auto"s, though those words can be found in the names of organisations and in some phrases such as "automobile engineering".
Yeah. Down here, they're all veeHICuls.
Jim Lewis - (Email Removed) - Tallahassee, FL - Nature encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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